Our Product
Premium quality, premium benefits, fairly traded.
Ariana™ brings the highest quality Saffron in the world to your home. Super Negin Saffron (SNS) is the world's most prestigious and labour intensive spice. The word “Negin” means “diamond” in the ancient Afghani language alluding to its purity. The Saffron strands are very subtle & aromatic, slightly sweet, luxurious taste is mysterious and enigmatic in its own unique way. The NS from Afghanistan is also known as “Red Gold”.
Each flower produces only three threads (stigmas) of saffron, and it blooms for only one week each year. The saffron must be harvested — by hand — in the mid-morning, when the flowers are still closed in order to protect the delicate stigmas inside. It takes about 1,000 flowers to produce just one ounce of saffron, and 190 flowers to produce a single gram.
Standard for Premium Quality
The saffron cultivated and produced in Afghanistan has been recognized as the best in the world now for several years in a row. Between 2015-2019 The International Taste & Quality Institute of Brussels awarded Afghan Saffron first place out of 30 competing regions.
Award granted by the International Taste & Quality Institute of Brussels to Afghani top quality saffron in 2017
As the world’s most prestigious and luxury spice, Super Negin Saffron encompasses you in a slightly sweet aroma. A delicate flower that blooms only one week each year, it is harvested mid-morning by gentle hands in the fields of Afghanistan.
With a thousand flowers used for just one ounce of saffron, Super Negin Saffron is a luxurious and prestigious strand. It continually places first out of 30 competing regions, due to Afghanistan’s perfect climate of hot and dry winds over semi-arid lands.
Breathe in centuries of culture and history through its unique and mysterious scent, which has been used around the world as seasoning, fragrance, dyes, and medicine. Most famously, it is used by Michelin star chefs in restaurants across the globe, providing spice and flavour to their signature dishes.
We take pride in our product — everything from how it’s sourced to quality control. Our farmers pick flowers at the perfect time — early in the morning before they wilt — carefully separating strands from the flowers.
Strands are then carefully dried to 12% moisture, as too much moisture can cause the strands to mold and spoil, and too little moisture can result in brittle threads and lost weight of strands.
Fair Trade
Three decades of war had a devastating impact on the agriculture sector in the landlocked country. Sustainable private sector growth is what will achieve stability in Afghanistan. Saffron is the perfect crop to achieve this goal.
From the high arid climate of Afghanistan to the kitchens of Michelin star chefs, this is one spice with a story to tell. With the goal of increasing sustainable rural economic development for a country that has been war torn for the last 40 years
The production of Saffron in Afghanistan has contributed to the local impoverished and very low-income rural areas economies and has grown exponentially over the last 7 years: From 1 ton of production in 2013 to over 19 tons set for 2020.
Over 80% of the Afghan population is reliant on the rural agricultural economy. By committing to working deeply within the roots and history of the product we’re offering, with direct connections with our supply management team in Afghanistan, we can ensure our Crocus Sativus, will be ethically grown, with a promise to our farmers to invest within their communities & help empower the women & men working in the fields & supply team.
The success of the spice industry in particular a financially beneficial item such as our NS not only helps the growers & women in the area tending to the flowers but also deep into communities.
The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation & Development spearheaded the development of rural infrastructure and focuses on reducing the growing of opium. Saffron is the perfect, beneficial and legal source of income for the Afghan farmers.